Crown Poison

"If... If you just shuffled to the left a little– yeah, yeah that's fine." his polaroid flashed, and the picture printed out. Rauan Madeia handed it to the man, who showed it to his family, all smiling until they all spotted their (perfect in his view) imperfections, and started complain to each other about how the wind was blowing their hair in the wrong direction, or how the lighting needed to be better. Rauan hurried away before they could ask him for another photo. He didn't want to be their personal photographer for the rest of the hour.

"Americani," he grumbled as he walked, staring out at the scenery.

Almost everything was green: the trees lining the gravel path he was walking were a million different and beautiful shades of it, their leaves almost shining in the generous sunlight. Daffodils sat among moss covered tree roots, their yellow heads poking above the surrounding emerald green spears, and wild daisies hid behind blooming bushes. The grass was flowing with the breeze, telling Rauan which direction it was coming from. Today it was the East wind.

Rauan stopped and tilted his gaze towards the sweet chirp of a bird, tracking the sound's origin. Once he found it, he took out his camera and snapped a picture of the bird mid-song, the light shing on its multicoloured feathers. He was lucky to have had the chance to take a shot of the creature, and it looked beautiful.

Everything in the Botanical Garden of Rome was beautiful. The flowers, trees, statues and fountains. Even the occasional pigeon wasn't hated on... Or, maybe that was just Rauan: he loved pigeons.

Watching as leaves fell from a nearby peach tree and swirled around his feet, he recalled a memory of his father telling him it was a 'little plant tornado', when he was a small boy and furrowing his eyebrows at the thought if it. His father had a lot of strange names for things, and that was something six year old Rauan had loved.

"Buona serata!(have a nice evening)"

Rauan looked up to see one of the garden staff waving him off with a smile. It seemed his thought train had led him to the garden's entrance.

He grinned back and replied: "Grazie, e anche tu! (thank you, and you too)"

Then he turned and left for home.

----

The scent of cinnamon and rasin brownies wafted through the hall as Rauan stepped into his home.

Walking into the kitchen, he spotted the freshly baked treats and immediately started gobbling as much as he could.

Greedy, he knew, but he couldn't miss out his brother's wonderful cooking.

"You know, it would've been nice if you'd greeted me before eating the brownies I made."

Speak of the devil, he thought, as his brother came into view, dark hair falling into his green and blue eyes, big grin on his face, and, of course, an apron. Nothing new it seemed.

"Oh, sorry."

Cappi smiled even wider than Rauan had thought him capable, and put his arms around his younger brother and kissed his head.

"Just a hug is enough."

"OK. "

They stayed there for a few moments until Rauan pulled away and kissed Cappi's cheeks.

"I'll be in the garden.

He turned to pick up the plate of brownies, hoping to stuff the rest down too, but his brother smacked his arm away.

"You've already eaten two, so only take one other, then that's it. No more. No more brownie. Understand?" Cappi had seen that sneaky look before, and he wasn't going to be fooled by it again.

"Fine, as you wish sir." but not really, as he'd already taken one without Cappi seeing, which meant that if he hid it well, he could take a second and not get caught.

Sadly, his habit of blushing when he'd done something naughty gave him away.

"Oi, sfacciato bastardo (oi, cheeky bastard)!"

Rauan giggled as he ran out to the garden, trying desperately to keep the brownies out of his Foster brother's snatching hands. There was no one better (or else) to annoy.

Tripping and stumbling around their back yard, giggling and sometimes squealing like frightened pigs, the chase went on, and on until Cappi admitted defeat and both were too tired to move another muscle.

They rested and then chatted for a while, informing each other on how their day went, whether it was enjoyed or boring, the people they met. Cappi's stories were always interesting, he worked in a well known bakery down the street, and therefore saw all kinds of people pass through the shop.

"It's too hot out here, I'm going in." announced Cappi, after ten minutes of silence.

"Hm, if you do that I'll have a nice tan and you won't."

Cappi looked at his brother. "Give me the brownie."

Rauan expected this, and placed the stolen goodie into the awaiting hand, sighing as he did so. Why did he want save it for a good book? He also expected Cappi to go inside, and put the brownie back on the plate but instead he saw the whole brownie disappear into his sibling's mouth all at once.

He was left in shock.

"Wha– excuse me, that was supposed to be mine! Non è giusto(not fair)!" Rauan pouted, hoping his brother would feel guilty and go get him another.

Sadly, Cappi's only reaction was to ruffle his Rauan's red hair and kiss his head.

"Adorable."

Rauan watched his brother walk inside, while ripping the grass around him from the ground, sulking. So annoying... Though he couldn't talk.

Eventually he just decided to get over and read a book with some herbal tea, a nice way to spend the rest of his day.

About two hours passed, which were contentedly filled with the great pleasure of reading and napping in an afternoon sun, until Rauan got tired enough to doze off completely, his hair a bit messy from the occasional toss or turn.

The sky darkened, and the stars slowly appeared with the crescent moon, creating a peaceful air about the new night.

At some point Cappi had come out and laid a light blanket over his brother's sleeping form, plus a pillow under his head, and, of course, his favourite teddy, which was still sometimes cuddled even though he was twenty-two.

Through the night, Rauan slept peacefully, but little did he know...

He was being watched.